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Ellison visits Guantanamo, will report Friday
A frequent critic of Guantanamo detentions, the congressman was invited by the military to see for himself.
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U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison took a hastily arranged trip Thursday to the U.S. prisoner base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, his first chance to see for himself the reported conditions that he has often criticized.
Ellison was invited only this week to catch a ride on a military transport headed to Guantanamo. He left Washington early Thursday morning and was expected to arrive back at Andrews Air Force Base Thursday night, said spokesman Rick Jauert.
Ellison is scheduled to fly to the Twin Cities today for a speech this morning at the University of Minnesota Law School, Jauert said.
"He had expressed an interest in going, and one of the [Defense Department] undersecretary guys said, 'We can do that,' and this was the result of that," Jauert said.
Ellison may have been the only member of Congress on the plane, he said.
The Minneapolis congressman sits on the House Judiciary Committee, which oversees constitutional matters. He has expressed concern over stories of mistreatment and abuse of rights of the approximately 275 prisoners from Afghanistan and Iraq who are housed there, and had hoped to meet with some of the detainees.
The trip was top secret, and news that Ellison had gone wasn't released until mid-afternoon Thursday, Jauert said.
KEVIN DUCHSCHERE
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